RaSr 



AN EXPOSITION 

OF 

D. P. HOLLOWAY'S MANAGEMENT 

OF THE 

AFFAIKS OF THE PATENT OFFICE. 



To the Members of the Senate and 

Souse of Re])resentatives of the United States, 

Gentlemen: Attempts were made during the last session of Congress 
to direct your attention to the manner in which the affairs of the Patent 
Office had been and were then conducted under the control of the present 
Commissioner. Some of these efforts, it is tiue, were made by persons 
%Yho did not find it expedient to enforce their information by appearing 
personally in the foreground, yet their statements in most important par- 
ticulars, were strictly correct. It is now proposed to lay before your hon- 
able body a brief statement of facts and circumstances, the accuracy of 
wdiich can be established before any impartial tribunal empowered to send 
for persons and papers. 

When Mr. Halloway became Commissioner of Patents, in April, 1861, 
that Bureau had a surplus fund on hand of about $80,000, and in five 
months thereafter, this whole sum, together with the ordinary income of 
the Office, was nearly expended and the Bureau brought to the verge of 
bankruptcy throuorh his mismanagement. 

He has variously disposed of the patent fund : in one instance he caused 
about $30,000 to be charged to printing, without any benefit being deriv- 
ed therefrom t > the public, or to the Oflice — without necessity, without 
laiv, and at a time when economy Avas essentially necessary — all of which 
he knew. In his report to Congress, February 13, 1862, his account for 
printing was set down at $l7,8o4 47, whereas before that time, he had 
caused more than twice that sum to be charged to printing, the great 
bulk of which, it is su[>pose<l Was concealed from public view in his said 
report, under the convenient head of "contingent expenses," which covers 
the large outlay of %59,502 36 — a sum nearhj equal to one-half the income 
of the Office during the year. 

The 14th section of the act approved March 2, 1861, provides, "That 
the Commissioner of Patents be, and he is ht^reby authorized to print, or 
in his discretion, to cause to be printed ten copies of the descriptions and 
claims of all patents which may hereafter be granted, and ten copies of all 
drawings of the same, tchen draioings shall accompany the patents ; Provid- 
ed, the cost of printing the text of said descriptions and claims shall not 
exceed, exclusive of stationery, the sum of two cents per hundred icords 
for each of said copies, and the cost of the drawings shall not exceed fifty 
cents per copy, <fcc., &c. The work shall be under the direction and 



O - 2.39^ 



2 '^^eJ-^ 

subject to tlie approval of the Commissioner of Patents, and tLe expense 
of the said copies shall be paid for out of the patent fund." 

The Commissioner s^iys in his report lo Congress, February 13, 1862, 
that "in accordance with this provision of the law^and witli the approval 
of the Secretary of the Interior, / contracted with a resj)onsible party for 
the execution of the work. The issues from the 2d of March to the 1st 
of November, 1861, were printed in a superior style ; and the drawings 
executed in the most satisfactory manner by the photographic art." 

Now in order to show the whole cost of this printing according to the 
above recited' positive stipulations of the law on the subject, the following 
statement taken fiom the records of the office is submitted •.— 

During the month ot March, 1861, 299 patents were issued containing 



an ao'trreafate of 












373,100 


words, 


During the month of April, 


399 


patents, 


containing 


574,280 


u 


M (fr 


« May, 


260 


(ri 




6i 


344,650 




(( (( 


'^ June, 


231 


U 




U 


330,050 




M U 


^ July, 


332 


i* 




It, 


400,650 




(( a 


" August, 


227 


u 




M 


326,100 




(( t. 


•* Sept'r., 


201 


u 




U 


252,630 




u u 


" October, 


271 


u 




M 


327,790 


u 


Patents including 
Reissues k Desi 
















gns, 


2220 


Agg. for 8 


mos., 


2,929,250 


a 



Amounting, at 2 cents per 100 words for '^ten copies," to the sum of 
$5,858,50, which is the whole sum chargeable for prihting in conformity 
with the provisions of law,, during that period. 

Two thousand drawings is a full allowance for the number of patents 
issued as above stated, as drawings do not accompany specifications in all 
cases ; bes-ides, in very many instances, the original drawings furnished by 
the patentees, were attached to and sent out with the letters patent, reis- 
sues and designs, thereby saving the Office any additional expense for 
these drawings. Therefore $10,000 or Jess should be ample to cover 
the cost of drawings, and much less for "'phot< graphs.'^' 

He has, for some cause, failed to give a full and true s'atement of the 
cost of printing, &c. ; neither does he furnish an exhibit, showing the, dif- 
ference between the cost, under the old system of the Office, for recording 
and engrossing letters patent, and the cost of printing. He is "induced to 
believe," he says in his report, "that an appropriation of $50,000 would 
be sufficient to carry on the printing for the present year," (1862) and he 
ingeniously attempts to sustain his desire by referring to the cost of print- 
ing, paper, binding, &c., of the Patent Office Mechanical Report, sug- 
gests the abandonment of its publication, and prdposes the project of em- 
powering him to establish a printing office in the Patent Office Bureau, 
under his own control, as he would theieby save the Gooernment ^he sum 

of dollars. But he fails to show the pioper figures where they are 

imijortant. In this, as in all previous cases, his reasonings and state-* 
ments are not sustained by facts. 

Another dubious feature in his report alluded to, is the small item of 
$43,791 31 paid to temporary clerks for the year 1861, notwithstanding 
during eight months of that year, all the letters patent were printed, which 
ought to have saved the Office the expense of engiossing said letters on 
parchment, wdiich the printing system was to annul, besides the cost of 
writing copies of the.-e letters when ordered — a sufficient number being 
piinted and in the Office for those purposes. It further appears in his 



3 



^r 



fiiid report, that the very small sura of 892,868 92 was paid out for salar- 
ies for the same year ! There is no telling what the amount would have 
been had he noc been '[forced to resort to the most rigid economy T 

Ttie second section of the act of March 2, 1861, created the office of 
*'Examiners-in-Chief," and authorized the ap}»ointment of three of them at 
an annual salary of 63,000 each. The 4th section of the same act in- 
creased the salary of thd Comni'ssion-rfrora 83,000 to -$4,500 per annum ; 
the salary of the chief clerk from $2,000 to $2,500, and the librarian 
from $1,600 to $1,800. The report referred to also shows that the salaries 
of 2^f'ificipal examiners were reduced hij the Comniissioner, the sum of 
seven hundred dollars each ; the librarian $200, and other employees, 
whose salaries ^vere Jixed hy law, in proportion ; while it seems the neces- 
sities of the office could allow him to leave the s-tlaries of the Commission- 
er, Chief-Clerk, and Exaniiners-in-Chief, in their increased integrity. It 
appears that he could not conscientiously, under the existing imi^erative 
necessities, reduce his own salary and the salaries of the others named, 
although '"he icas compelled to resort to the most rigid economy /" 

The Commssioner tells you, in the said report, that *" owing to the 
7iecessities of the office he was compelled to resort to the most rigid econ- 
omy /" When that rigid system was introduced into the Patent Office, 
the business was divided into but eleven classes, five of which only were 
in charge of principal Examiners; a-terwards there were fifteen classes or 
more, in charge- of what the Commissioner p'eases to call "first assistant 
examiners." Which is the niosr economical, his report does not give the 
means of det*-rmining ; nor whether any increase of the number of first 
assistant examiners was imperiously required by the business of the office. 

Other abuses in the administration of the business affairs of the Patent 
Office are deserving the strictest inquiry. The Comm'ssioner states in his 
repori, that the contingent expenses of the Office amounted to $59,502 36 
for the year 1861. Are not the items of this sum worthy of investigation, 
and does it not suggest the propriety of instituting some controlling 
scrutiny in the Patent Office proper over its accounts. 

He has arbitrarily, and in ihe absence of any law to justify him, reduc- 
ed salaries — fxed by law — of valuable officers, under the pretext of re- 
ducing the expenses, and at the same time has increased them, by making 
new places and new appointments not required by the business of the 
office. 

He appointed one of his own sons to a desk, where the only duties were 
to receive models and s'gn receipts for the same, and increased the salary 
from $1,000 to $1,600 per annum, at the same time allowing him an 
assistant — who performed all the duties — at $600 per annum. He appoint- 
ed another of his sons to the post of chief messenger of the Patent 
Office, it is now believel, to afford some one an opportunity " to snatch 
up unappro})riated trifles," and to endorse bills presented against the 
Office with the word correct, thereby securing their prompt payment. This 
son, and the one charged with the receipt of models, ha I the control and 
charge of the mails received and sent out, and to them also was entrusted 
the duty of enclosing and forwarding monies due from the office to indi- 
viduals in diflerent sections of the country, and keeping an account of 
the same in a book provided for that purpose. Many envelops franked 
by the Commissioner or Chief Clerk, have reached their destination, 
sealed with wax and the private seal of the office — which should L)e only 
accessible to these two sons — stamped thereon, and iu every r.^spect in 



perfect condition, only, that on being opened by the parties to whom thej 
were addressed, instead of covering a letter and money ^ they were found to 
contain a small pamphlet^ setting forth "Rules and Regulations" for the 
transaction of business in the Patent Office, or the "Patent Laws" in 
pamphlet form. A large number of letters directed to the office^ contain- 
ing money ^ have likewise been forwarded through the mails and have mys- 
teriously disappeared ) so that agents and others, for their own security^ 
have been compelled to abandon this medium for making remittances. 
How the letters and money said to have been enclosed, could be with- 
drawn from" the franhed and sealed envelops without injuring them or 
defacing the impressions of the private seal on the wax, after they left the 
Patent Office, and pamphlets mtroduced, is a mystery yet unexplained. 
That the operations of the adroit robber or robbers should be confined 
exclusively to Patent Office mails, is another singular feature in these 
transactions. 

Mr. Holloway employs a host of his oion kindred, and a large number of 
clerks from his own town, and pays them from the Patent fund, in some 
instances more than they are legally entitled to receive. Some of these 
pel sons are seldom to be found at their desks, and are of little^ if any ac- 
count in the transactions connected with the Office. One of them was. 
selected by Mr. Holloway as his disbursing and financial clerk; but an in- 
timate acquaintance from the same locality, was independent enough to 
manifest his indignation at this arrangement, by publicly proclaiming that 
both Secretary Smith and Commissioner Holloway knew this individual 
to be a scoundrel and a thief. It was therefore thought most prudent tO' 
keep him separate from the money drawer. The chief-clerk of the then 
Agricultural Division was dismissed, and the intended financial clerk was 
installed in his place, at a salary of $1,800 per annum ; and his son, a 
youth, placed in the same Division at $600 per annum ; thus giving the 
father the handsome salary of $200 per month. Immediately after the 
Department of Agriculture was created, Mr. Holloway appointed this 
same man an assistant examiner, at $1,800 per annum, and h>st:aoa»-assist- 
..ant messenger in the Patent Office. He is now engaged in services out- 
side of, and unconnected with the Patent Office, (for which he receives- 
compensation, it is said) and which appear to occupy his whole time and 
attention, yet he is regularly paid from the Patent fund, at the above rate 
for services which he wholly neglects. He was formeily a partner of Mr. 
Holloway in the publication of a small weekly newspaper in Richmond, 
Indiana. His name is W. T. Dennis; but in the "pufts" of himself 
which he manages to obtain through the newspapers, he is styled "Col- 
onel W. T. Dennis, agent for the State of Indiana," and was at one time 
rendered famous for the financial ability he displayed as Secretary to the 
Indiana State Board of Agriculture, and other transactions of the same 
nature and of equal merit ; in regard to which, some of the members of 
Congress from that gallant State are well posted. 

Mr. Holloway allows his favorites to absent themselves from the Office 
for months at a time — to draw their pay as if present — and details other 
clerks to perform their duties ; thus taxing the Office tivice for one service. 
Fathers are allowed to make substitutes of their sons, whilst the former 
engage in services in other departments of the Government; and brothers 
to do the same with brothers, thus filling up the departments with 
families. 

Upon investigation, it will be found that Mr. Holloway and his conncc- 



^f 



tioBs in the Patent Office and Interior Department, receive for salaries an- 
nually about 815,000. Some of the members of Congress, employees 
under the Goverument, and others, understand these things and know that 
good and ivorthy men from Indiana and elsewhere, who deserve places, 
have been shut out from them, to make room for these family hosts and 
other mercenaries. In this respect, such a state of things has no precedent 
in the history of our Government. 

It is well known to intelligent gentlemen in the Patent Office, that 
from fifteen to eighteen thousand dollars might be deducted from the pre- 
sent expenses, without any detriment to the business of the office. 

Mr. Holloway has recently added to the overgrown force in the Patent 
Office, by appointing to places with salaries ranging from %\ 60 per day, to 
$1,200 and $1,800 per annum, several persons who were left off the list 
of clerks in the new organization of the Agricultural Department, alleg- 
ing that he "wanted them to stand hy him, as he intended to pursue the 
Agricultural Commissioner to the wall the present winter." This is the 
report of one of these same employees, and is received with credit from 
the fact that he is seldom found at his desk — does not earn -$30 per month 
as an estimated clerk — yet for these private reasons, he is paid $100 per 
month by Hollow^ay's orders. 

About the 28th of November last, Mr. Holloway established a neiu desk 
in his Bureau, for the purpose of corresponding with the newspapers, 
members of Congress, (fee. A talented letter- wiitter was selected to oc- 
cupy it, and all his letters were submitted to Hollow^ay, and by him ap- 
proved ; but after he learned that he was expected in these communica- 
tions to "puff" Holloway, and heap unmerited abuse upon the head of 
the Commissioner of the Agricultural Department, and to use his best 
efforts to crush out that Department or render it a dependency of the 
Patent Office again, or of the Interior Department — he found the duties 
imposed more than he had bargained for, and more than a con- 
scientious man was willing to submit to. A protest ensued, and Holloway 
not being able to procure the services of an agent suitable for these pur- 
poses, the desk has been discontinued for the present. 

Mr. Holloway keeps a carriage and horses for his own private use and 
that of his family connections, at the expense of the Patent Office; and 
it is said that he has declared that the horses belong to his son — the chief 
messenger. If such be the fact, upon what grounds should the Patent 
Office and the old Agricultural Division, at the same time, be taxed at the 
rate of 8100 per month for their livery, including the pay of an hostler? 
The purchase and payment for the said horses, and their equipage, which 
accompanied them from Indiana to this city, is a matter that will be 
placed before you in another article by and by. 

The partiality he has manifested towards several ladies who are seces- 
sionists, by giving them employment, to the exclusion of worthy Indies 
holding opposite sentiments, is incompatible with the character of a 
Union man, and is worthy of notice. One of these ladies, whose hus- 
band hails from Mississippi, and who went South on the breaking out of 
the present troubles, exercised great influence over his mind and conduct ! 
He ordered that she should have work from the office to the amount of 
seventy or eighty dollars per month — a much larger sum than any other 
lady was allowed — and, at her instance, ladies were discharged from em- 
ployment. He took especial and 'particular care of her ; but owing to 
some unexjjlained cause this lady found it necessary to leave Washington ; 



her husband, who had previously been reported dead^ was suddenly de- 
clared to be alive in the confederate army ; trunks were packed with 
boots, shoes, and apparel for her liege lord; Mr. Holloway having man- 
aged to procure her a pass ; and iady and baggage sped off to Richmond, 
Va. He has still a lady on hand, however, in the employment ot the 
Patent Office whose husband is South from choice; and, it is said, he 
will soon make an effort to procure her a pass for the South. 

Mr. Holloway's hypocrisy is evinced in his eagerness to display an old, 
lean temperance lecture, which he keeps stereotyped on his memory, 
whenever and wherever he can find listeners ; yet, when complaiats have 
been made to him respecting the ill conduct of some of his inebriates, 
his reply has been, " they are as liable to abuse me when they are in that 
condition as anybody elseT 

He pronounced the board of examioers-in-chief " a nuisance ;" but, in 
reply to the inquiry why he did not lecommend the abatement of the 
" nuisance," has stated that he " would in tliat event have Uncle Abe, as 
well as others, down upon him, for the individuals composing the board 
had to be provided for." It was therefore expedient to let it alone. 

He asked for, and obtained an appropriation of, $50,855 49 last ses- 
sion of Congress — being within a few thousand dollars of the whole 
amount appropriated to carry on the Agricultural Department during the 
fiscal year ending June 30, 1863. This appropriation was asked for by 
Mr. Holloway, professedly with the view of paying the examiners, clerks, 
and all the employees the sums he had illegally and unjustly withheld 
from their salaries^ and. the financial clerk was directed to make his esti- 
mate of the amount required, with special reference to the full payment 
of all these claims, which he did. Not one dollar, however, of this money 
has been applied to the payment of these men, unless it has been to his 
kindred and one or two especial favorites. On the contrary, he has re- 
fused to do so when applied to, with the shallow allegation that he was 
not "authorized by law to pay them." Thus he has manift^sted perfect 
willingness to violate law to subserve some selfish purpose and to injure 
others, but evinces entire repugnance to repairing injuries he has inflicted, 
even when the money has been put into his hands for that jmrpose, with- 
out the enactment of a compulsory law to that effect. He expects the 
aggrieved party to ask for such a law, and that, through their aid, he 
can dexterously " snake " a section through Congress, making valid his 
former illegal and blundering acts. 

He kept a man named D. J. Browne, a noted plagiarist, at a salary of 
$3,000 per annum, traversing Europe, nominally in q^uest of " hitherto 
concealed matters of information that were all-important to the agricul- 
turists and manufacturers of this country ;" but more ostensibly, on the 
part of Mr. Holloway, it is believed, that he might obtain possession of 
Browne's handsome house and furniture in Waj^hington, which he has 
ever since occupied at a nominal rent of $500 per annum. 

It will be found by reference to Mr. Holloway's reply to a resolution of 
inquiry, introduced by Hon. 0. Calvert, of Maryland, January 20, 1862, in 
the House of Representatives, in reference to Mr. Browne's agency, that 
he says : 

*• I take Jl?/eas^ire in stating that about the 1st of May, 1861, D. Jay 
Browne, Esq., of New York, but for some years connected with this office 
in an important position, was appointed to visit P]uropc, etc. Mr. Browne 
was instructed specially lo examine into and report upon the manufacture 
of wine, ttc. lie was also instructed to investigate and report upon the 



^ 



cultivation arid manufacture of flax, <fec. Mr. Browne was to receive 
13,000 in full of all compensation for salary, expenses, ifec. His appoint- 
ment was for one year only, and lie Las been paid for ibat time. No fur- 
ther sum is to be p«id him. 

" His report is daily expected to arrive ; and it is but just to say that 
it is expected to be the most valuable report ever made upon the subjects 
as?io-nfd to him for investigation. 

"When the wine merchants of this country, or their private agents, 
have visited the wine manufacturers of Europe, they have naturally been 
excluded <fec ; but 1 am assured, from sources entitled to full credit, that 
Mr. Browne, as a Government agent, has secured facilities which but few, 
if any, Americans have before enjoyed. 

"The anticipated report will doubtless solve the great problem — which 
has not yet been solved in this country — how to manufacture by machinery 
cloth from flax as economically as is now done from cotton. 

" Believing this, I am confident the small sum expended in sending an 
%ntelli(/ent agent to Europe for purposes above indicated, will be a judi- 
cious expenditure, <fec. 

D. P. HOLLO WAY, 
Commissioner of Patents^ 

After all this " flourish of trumpets" by HoUoway, the only recorded 
evidence Mr. Browne has adduced of the great achievments he ivas to 
procure and perform^ is contained in an article "on flax," published in 
the Agricultural Report of 1861 ; and which it has since been discovered, 
was purloined, in many parts at least, from an old English volume. 
" Upon the cullivation and manufacture of flax," he has thrown no new 
light; and "upon the manufacture of wines, &c.," he is totally silent. 

This same Mr. Browne, previous to leaving England, obtained of 
Messrs. Barings, Bros. & Co., through letters from the Commissioner of 
Patents, the sum of $1,500, ihe evidence of which indebtedness is now in 
the hands of Messrs. Riggs & Co. of this city. So that it turns out to be a 
profitable job to each of the contracting parties ; Mr. Browne actually 
receiving through Mr. HoUoway's favor, the snug sum of |4,500, (instead 
of $3,000, as above stated by Mr. Holloway,) for a few pages extracted 
from an obsolete volume; and Mr. Holloway enjoys the comfort of 
Browne's elegant and well furnished house at a very cheap rent, — viz. : 
$500 per annum. 

It may be, however, that Messrs. Browne, Holloway & Co. will yet 
turn up as grape culturists and " wine manufacturers, and manufacturers 
of flaxen cloth," and follow the example of European maimfacturers and 
"exclude our people" from the benefit of the vast discoveries made by 
Mr. Browne whilst abroad as agent fur the United States. Would it not 
be well to cause an examination to be made into this matter ? 

In the report of the Secretary of the Inieiior to the present Congress 
is found the following singular sentences in relation to the Comujissiouer 
of Patents: "The Commissioner has a^ked for an appropriation for 
putting up model cases in the north wing, and for additional improve- 
ments in the large hall in the south wing (of the Patent Office). These 
improvements are demanded by the increasing business of the ofi1t;e, 
and the application of the commissioner is commended to the favoiable 
consideration of Congress." 

" A balance of $5,720 04 has been found due to Henry F. Davis for the 
erection of model cases in the west winaf." 



"The balance of appropriation made for that object, || |( ||||| 
sufficient to meet this demand^ was carried to the sur lllllllli|||||||)|l(|ll(p 
cannot^ therefore, he now applied. An appropriation to 030 Qjg ■7«'!1"'"q 
which \& justly due, is respectfully recommended." ^ 

The force of the Secretary's reasoning is not manifest, when he says 
that the former appropriation for " that object" cannot now be applied to 
its legitimate purpose, because it " was carried to the surplus fund." Mr. 
Holloway found no difficulty in applying the surplus fund of $80,000 he 
found on hand when he became Commissioner, to any and every pur- 
pose, legal and illegal, that he saw proper. He found no difficulty in 
exceeding the amount of an appropriation in his disbursements, as may 
be seen in his recent answer to a resolution of Congress ; and that he 
should now assume extreme delicacy in regard to the application of a 
portion of his surplus fund to the liquidation of the balance above speci- 
fied, is supremely ridiculous. This claim of $5,720 04 has been twice or 
thrice rejected by the Patent office whilst under the administration of 
former commissioners, and why does Holloway now urge its payment? 
The reason may be conjectured. 

The Patent office, previous to Mr. Hollo way's induction, was a self- 
sustaining institution, and would be so at this time, under the direction of 
a competent commissioner. It should at this day be in possession of a 
surplus fund of at least $100,000, taking into consideration the amount of 
business done by the office during the past fifteen months, and the appro- 
priations made by Congress during the same period ; notwithstanding 
which, a glance at the letters from the Secretary of the Treasury trans- 
mitting to both houses of Congress estimates of additional appropriations 
required for the service of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1863, and 1864, 
will show that Holloway asks for the small appropriation of $87,520 04. 

A statement is now being prepared in reference to the management of 
the afi'airs of the late Agricultural Division, whilst it remained under the 
control of Mr. Holloway and '• Colonel W. P. Dennis, Agent for the State 
of Indiana," which will make an exhibition of their ability, integrity, and 
financial skill, as its conductors, and show how the said Dennis and 
other clerks and laborers were employed during the last three or Jour 
months of its existence, the major part of which statement will be taken 
from their own records ; and printed copies of letters received from gentle- 
men in Indiana in reference to Colonel Dennis and others will accompany 
the statement if deemed necessary. 

Ex-Secretary Smith and Holloway are both citizens of the State of 
Indiana ; but it is generally understood that Mr. Holloway was not the 
voluntary choice of the Piesidcnt, and that after a severe course of drill- 
ing he was only confirmed by one majority in the Senate. Under his 
direction it is hut too true '• that the Patent Office has fallen from the 
honorahle and dignified position it previously occupied in the eyes of the 
nation under the direction of Judge Mason, Hon. J. Holt and others." 

With as much brevity as possible, and with little regard to arrange- 
ment, the foregoing facts are presented for the purpose of drawii*g- your 
attention to Mr. Holloway's mode of managing the afiairs of the Patent 
Office. 

Respectfully, 

R. BETTS, 
Room No. 30) Patent Office Building, 

Residence No. 586, H street. 

Washington, January 1st, 1863. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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030 016 780 9 



